What do you think?
Rate this book
Learn, Create, and Teach: A Guide to Building a Creative Life
Whether you are a student, professional, or teacher of the arts, this book delivers succinct, practical, and candid advice that addresses both common concerns in the creative path and the real-life challenges an artist faces in the real world.
Breaking down the creative arc into “student,” “professional,” and “teacher” reinforces that we all have something to learn, to create, and to teach. Addressing universal problems, fears, and roadblocks faced by artists, this book offers solutions, hope, and motivation.
Those starting their art career will value the tips and strategies for becoming known (“Be able to sum up your work in a single sentence.”) as well as staying motivated (“Never ever stop making your art.”). Teachers will gain insights from not only my experiences but also the perspectives of my colleagues, mentors, and students. This easy-to-digest volume has advice that can be readily put into practice by anyone.
Breaking down the creative arc into “student,” “professional,” and “teacher” reinforces that we all have something to learn, to create, and to teach. Addressing universal problems, fears, and roadblocks faced by artists, this book offers solutions, hope, and motivation.
Those starting their art career will value the tips and strategies for becoming known (“Be able to sum up your work in a single sentence.”) as well as staying motivated (“Never ever stop making your art.”). Teachers will gain insights from not only my experiences but also the perspectives of my colleagues, mentors, and students. This easy-to-digest volume has advice that can be readily put into practice by anyone.
- GenresSelf HelpNonfiction
165 pages, Paperback
First published July 18, 2013
1 person is currently reading
23 people want to read
About the author
Clara Lieu
6 books8 followersI am a professor, writer, and visual artist. I write an advice column for visual artists called "Ask the Art Professor" which is featured in the Huffington Post. I currently teach in the Illlustration department at the Rhode Island School of Design. In the past I have taught in RISD Foundation Studies, the RISD Printmaking department, the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, at Wellesley College, and at the Lesley University College of Art and Design. For four years I was the Director of the Jewett Gallery.
My studio practice explores isolation and mental illness through drawing, printmaking, and sculpture. I have exhibited my work at the International Print Center New York, Bromfield Gallery, the Danforth Museum of Art, the Currier Museum of Art, the RISD Museum of Art, and the Davis Museum and Cultural Center. I have received grants from the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation and the Puffin Foundation.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 6, 2013
Worthy advice for all who embrace a life in art
The artist's life is fraught with challenges of self doubt, fear of not having anything original to say, hesitancy at placing finished art before the critical public, all forms of shaky self acceptance. The artist's life is also one of passion and commitment and enriching insights into the secrets of the universe not always accessible to others.
In this very creative book, Clara Lieu addresses all of these issues, whether they originate from the student, the professional, or the teacher. Her credentials are impressive: she is a visual artist and adjunct professor at the Rhode Island School of Design with a past history of teaching at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, at Wellesley College, the Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University, and serving as Director of the Jewett Art Gallery at Wellesley College. In other words, she has been a participant in each of the three categories she addresses. `When I was an art student, I looked forward to being a professional artist and could not imagine being a teacher. As a professional artist, I was eager to teach and missed being a student. Now a teacher, I no longer take formal classes but I've tried to internalize the kind of thinking and questioning that was demanded of me as a student. At every point in one's creative arc, there is always something to learn, something to create, and something to teach. The three intertwined roles of `student,' `professional', and `teacher' are critical to living a creative life.'
The book offers sixty tips for all artists in all fields of development, tips such as `ask for help', `learn by teaching', `learn to let go', `use comparisons to grow', `ideas will always prevail over technique', `never apologize for your work', `be knowledgeable of work beyond you own', `be consistent and reliable', `find or create a network of artists', `never ever stop making your art' - and so many more seemingly brief thoughts made cogent by the accompanying remarks and by the (what must be the art of Lieu) line drawings that become symbols for Lieu's warmly offered advice.
A book's end, Clara Lieu concludes: 'To live as an artist is to feel ongoing yearning, doubt, worry, and passion. I worry every day about my work and whether I can live up to my own creative standards. I doubt my abilities and question whether I will ever achieve my goals. However, as grueling as the creative process can be, I know that I savor every minute, regardless of how things are going. I love moments when I'm so thoroughly engaged in creating that time disappears, I stop hearing music, and I don't want to sleep. This is what I live for.' Clara Lieu is a positive force for all artists. Read and absorb.
Grady Harp
The artist's life is fraught with challenges of self doubt, fear of not having anything original to say, hesitancy at placing finished art before the critical public, all forms of shaky self acceptance. The artist's life is also one of passion and commitment and enriching insights into the secrets of the universe not always accessible to others.
In this very creative book, Clara Lieu addresses all of these issues, whether they originate from the student, the professional, or the teacher. Her credentials are impressive: she is a visual artist and adjunct professor at the Rhode Island School of Design with a past history of teaching at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, at Wellesley College, the Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University, and serving as Director of the Jewett Art Gallery at Wellesley College. In other words, she has been a participant in each of the three categories she addresses. `When I was an art student, I looked forward to being a professional artist and could not imagine being a teacher. As a professional artist, I was eager to teach and missed being a student. Now a teacher, I no longer take formal classes but I've tried to internalize the kind of thinking and questioning that was demanded of me as a student. At every point in one's creative arc, there is always something to learn, something to create, and something to teach. The three intertwined roles of `student,' `professional', and `teacher' are critical to living a creative life.'
The book offers sixty tips for all artists in all fields of development, tips such as `ask for help', `learn by teaching', `learn to let go', `use comparisons to grow', `ideas will always prevail over technique', `never apologize for your work', `be knowledgeable of work beyond you own', `be consistent and reliable', `find or create a network of artists', `never ever stop making your art' - and so many more seemingly brief thoughts made cogent by the accompanying remarks and by the (what must be the art of Lieu) line drawings that become symbols for Lieu's warmly offered advice.
A book's end, Clara Lieu concludes: 'To live as an artist is to feel ongoing yearning, doubt, worry, and passion. I worry every day about my work and whether I can live up to my own creative standards. I doubt my abilities and question whether I will ever achieve my goals. However, as grueling as the creative process can be, I know that I savor every minute, regardless of how things are going. I love moments when I'm so thoroughly engaged in creating that time disappears, I stop hearing music, and I don't want to sleep. This is what I live for.' Clara Lieu is a positive force for all artists. Read and absorb.
Grady Harp
August 20, 2013
Clara Lieu has created a book that is easy to read, concise and enjoyable. The paperback has 165 pages of encouraging, helpful words that are spaced so as to make each idea quick to grasp; each page delivering another gem of knowledge.
The information provided is helpful, not only to the artists it is directed at, but to anyone who wishes to take the time to read it. There are powerful message and reminders throughout the text.
Page 28 breaks the most common myth for artists, that is...well, you will see it on page 28.
Ms. Lieu does far more than expound and exhort her message(s), as she does in her artwork, she shares her own experiences and journey, bringing far more credibility to the work than if she had not. The text is well written and has been properly proofread and edited so it has no glaring errors; and excellent piece of work. I read this book from cover to cover in one sitting - it was that interesting.
I will be keeping this volume by my desk for those times when I need encouragement and/or solace in my work.
The information provided is helpful, not only to the artists it is directed at, but to anyone who wishes to take the time to read it. There are powerful message and reminders throughout the text.
Page 28 breaks the most common myth for artists, that is...well, you will see it on page 28.
Ms. Lieu does far more than expound and exhort her message(s), as she does in her artwork, she shares her own experiences and journey, bringing far more credibility to the work than if she had not. The text is well written and has been properly proofread and edited so it has no glaring errors; and excellent piece of work. I read this book from cover to cover in one sitting - it was that interesting.
I will be keeping this volume by my desk for those times when I need encouragement and/or solace in my work.
August 5, 2016
I decided to read this book with the hope of gaining some inspiration for the upcoming school year. This book was mainly a long list of ideas about teaching and being a student with many tips based on the author's personal experience. I did find some inspiration while reading it and marked several pages that I will return to for sure. Overall, I'd say if you're an art teacher or an art student looking for a quick read for some inspiration then this book is worth reading.
October 1, 2013
To read the full review, visit: Dueling Librarians: Learn, Create, Teach: A Guide to Building a Creative Life
October 7, 2013
The October 2013 Dueling Librarians Review is available!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews